Random mixing and dispensing amusement device



E. J. KRANZ Marc zh 5, 1968 RANDOM MIXING AND DISPENSING AMUSEMENTDEVICE 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 17, 1965 m T N E V m EDMUND J. KRANZBYV I AM I I ATTORNEYS March 5, 1968 RANDOM MIXING AND DISPENSINGAMUSEMENT DEVICE F ile d March 17, 1965 E. J. KRANZ 3,371,932

3 Sheets-Sheetd 50 1 l, B J Q A [8 I 4 II II /I/ I N"26 4 U a J 84 66 ii 32 so 20 z I a m k I I\ K v A I 82 80 38 48 403 g2 l2 80 a INVENTOR 9-EDMUND J. KRANZ ATTORNEYS W p M MM United States Patent C) i 3,371,932RANDOM MIXING AND DISPENSING AMUEEMENT DEVICE Edmund J. Kranz, 1426Buckingham, Toledo, Ohio 43607 Filed Mar. 17, 1965, Ser. No. 440,360 6Claims. (Cl. 2'73-144) ABSTRACT OF THE DISELOSURE An amusement devicehaving a plurality of spherical playing pieces supported on an annularsupporting member and a plurality of sets of playing piece propellingmeans for forcing selective ones of the playing pieces off of thesupporting member to a visible position. Typically, the playing piecesare provided with indicia of a conventional deck of playing cards.

The present invention relates to an amusement device, and moreparticularly to a game having playing pieces or balls with indiciathereon, representing a conventional deck of playing cards.

An object of the invention is to produce an amusement device for playingthe game of poker with spherical playing pieces rather than theconventional deck of cards.

Another object of the invention is to produce a game apparatus in whichthe element of chance cannot be eliminated.

Still another object of the invention is to produce an amusementapparatus which may be readily and economically manufactured; can beplayed without difliculty; and has the new and improved features ofconstruction, operation and arrangement hereinafter described.

In one aspect, the invention comprises a plurality of playing pieces; abase; an upstanding wall member, the wall member and the base defining achamber having an open top; a playing piece supporting member mountedcoaxially within the chamber defined by the wall member and adapted tomove vertically, means for selectively and vertically positioning thesupporting member between a first position and a second position; aconical disc mounted for rotation about an axis substantially normalthereto and disposed concentrically within the chamber defined by thewall member, the peripheral edge of the disc being spaced slightlyinwardly of the playing piece supporting member; playing piece ejectingmeans connected to the playing piece supporting member for ejecting theplaying pieces when the supporting member is in the second position; anda plurality of propelling means positioned in spaced relation in thewall member to force respective ones of the playing pieces off thesupporting member when the member is in the first position.

The above and other objects and advantages of the invention will becomereadily apparent from reading the following detailed description of apreferred embodiment of the invention when considered in the light ofthe accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a top plan view of the amusement device showing the playingpieces of one of the players being in the final, or played position;

FIGURE 2 is an elevational view in vertical section of the amusementdevice taken along line 2-2 of FIG- URE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a top plan view of the amusement device with the coverthereof removed, showing only a portion of the complete number ofplaying pieces for the sake of simplicity;

FIGURE 4 is a top plan view of the amusement device with the playingpiece supporting member and the as- 3,371,932 Patented Mar. 5, 1968sociated conical disc removed, thereby more clearly illustrating themeans for elevating the playing piece supporting member and the meansfor actuating the playing piece ejecting means;

FIGURE 5 is an exploded view of the apparatus, more clearly illustratingthe relative position and relationship of the parts thereof;

FIGURE 6 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view showing the apparatusin the position justafter the playing piece has been propelled by theassociated plunger means;

FIGURE 7 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view of the amusementdevice after the playing piece supporting member has been shifted to itslowermost position and the associated conical disc element has beenlowered to allow the playing piece to assume a position adjacent thesupporting member;

FIGURE 8 is an enlarged fragmentary elevational view of the amusementdevice after the conical disc has been allowed to return to itsuppermost position, thereby causing the playing pieces once again to bereceived by and supported on the playing piece supporting member; and

FIGURE 9 is a sectional view showing, along line 9-9 of FIGURE 5, anadjunct whereby a single holdf playing piece may be viewed by therespective players.

Referring to the drawings, and more particularly to FIGURES 1 to 5inclusive, there is shown an embodiment of the invention including a toppanel member 10 and a base member 12 and an upstanding outer side wallmember 14, disposed between the top panel 10 and the base 12. Theupstanding outer side wall 14 has a lower outwardly extending flange 16which cooperates with and rests upon the base 12, and a similaroutwardly extending flange 18 at the top portion thereof, which isadapted to provide support for the top panel 10. An upstanding innerwall 20 of annular configuration is disposed concentrically or coaxiallywithin the chamber defined by the top panel 10, the base 12 and the sidewall 14. A playing piece or ball supporting and receiving annulus 22 isdisposed coaxially within the upstanding inner wall 20. The ballreceiving annulus 22 includes an outer annular wall member 24, an innerannular wall member 26 and a lower or bottom wall 27, clearlyillustrated in FIGURE 2. The bottom wall 27 is provided with a centrallydisposed aperture which is adapted to receive an upstanding bearing post34, having ribs 42 disposed to extend axially of the cylindrical post34. The ribs 42 are adapted to engage within suitable slots within thecentral aperture formed in the bottom wall 27 of the ball receivingannulus 22 to aid in guiding the annulus 22 vertically up and'down withrespect to the cylindrical bearing member 34.

It will be observed in FIGURE 3 that the upper surface of the ballreceiving annulus 22 is provided with a circular series of ballreceiving cavities 29 which are formed on the uppermost marginal edgeportions of the cooperating outer annular wall member 24- and the innerannular wall member 26 of the ball receiving annulus.

Associated with the ball receiving annulus 22 is a ball ejectingmechanism comprised of an upper ball ejecting ring 28, a lower ballejecting ring 30 and a plurality of tie rods 32, the opposite ends ofwhich are connected to the respective upper and lower ball ejectingrings. The operation of the upper and lower ball ejecting ring mechanismwill be explained in greater detail hereinafter with reference toFIGURES 6, 7 and 8.

Continuing with the description of the structure of the amusementdevice, it will be noted that the cylindrical bearing post 34 contains acentral bore 36, having a spider element 38 disposed at the bottomportion thereof which is biased upwardly by helical spring 40. The bore3 6 of the bearing post 34 is adapted to receive therein a spindle 48depending from a frusto conically shaped disc 44. The upper peripheralmarginal surface of the disc 44 is provided :with a plurality of spacedupstanding guide fingers 46, the function of "which will be explained inmore detail hereinafter. The fr-usto conically shaped disc 44 has asubstantially fiat planar upper surface 50 and a central knoblikeoperating handle 51. The arrangement thus far described enables the disc44 to be rotatably supported by the cylindrical bearing post 34 and canbe caused to be rotated by grasping the handle 51 and imparting aspinning motion thereto.

The top panel It) is provided, on the under surface thereof, with adepending inverted frusto conical chute 52 disposed in parallel spacedrelation to a downwardly extending central portion 54 of the top panel10. The space between the upper surface of the chute 52 and the undersurface of the downwardly extending central portion 54 is broken up by aplurality of spaced apart guide walls 56 which cooperate with respectiveend walls 58, as illustrated in FIGURE 1, to create a plurality ofseparate compartments.

The upstanding outer side wall 14 is provided with a plurality of spacedgroups of apertures therein which receive respective plunger elements6t). The upstanding inner wall is provided with similar groups ofapertures for receiving the innermost ends of the plunger elements 60.Normally the plunger elements 69 are biased to the positions shown inFIGURES 1, 3, 4, 7 and 8 by respective helical springs 62 whichcooperate with cotter pins or the like (not shown) extending through theplungers 60.

As mentioned earlier, the ball receiving annulus 22 is adapted to shiftvertically up and down on the cylindrical bearing post 34. The verticalmovement of the ball receiving annulus 22 is effected by a positioningmeans which includes an elevating and lowering lever member 64, illustrated in FIGURES 1, 3, 4 and 5. The lever 64- is suitably fixed to oneend of a shaft 66 which in turn has a drive pinion 68 keyed thereto. Thepinion 63 effectively drives a driven pinion 70 through a series ofidler pinions 72. A pair of camming levers 74 are carried by the shaft66; while a similar pair of camming levers 76 are carried by a shaft '78keyed to the driven pinion 70. Movement of the pinions 68 and 70 arecaused to impart opposite swinging motions to the respective camminglevers 74 and 76. The uppermost surfaces of the camming levers 74 and 76are adapted to engage the under surface of the bottom wall 27 of theball receiving annulus 22. It will be readily ap parent that when thelever 64 is in the position shown in FIGURE 4, the ball receivingannulus 22 is adapted to be t in its lowermost position; but, when thelever is moved through approximately 90 in an upward direction, the ballreceiving annulus 22 is moved to the upper position shown in FIGURE 2.

To effect ejection of the playing pieces or balls B from the ballreceiving annulus 22 after the balls have been propelled by therespective plungers, there is provided a plurality of generallyoutwardly extending bars 80 (FIG- URE 4) which are pivotally mounted onbrackets '82. The inner ends of the bars 80 are disposed beneath thespring biased spider element 38; while the outer ends 84 of the bars80,are positioned immediately below the lower ball ejecting ring 30.Normally the bars 80 are in the position shown in FIGURE 2. However,when the handle knob 51 of the disc 44 is pushed downwardly the lowerend of the spindle '48 forces the spider downwardly against the bias ofthe spring 40 and thereby forces the inner ends of the bar downwardly,causing the opposite ends 84 to pivot upwardly and contact the lowerball ejecting ring and force it upwardly. As the ring 39 is forcedupwardly, this motion is transmitted to the upper ring 28 through thetie rods .32 causing the upper ring 28 to push the balls resting in therespective ball receiving cavities 29 upwardly and-thereby causing themto drop downwardly onto the outer peripheral edge of the disc 44. Thisoperation will be more clearly defined hereinafter.

A plurality of housings 90 are disposed in fixed space relation on theupper surface of the top panel 10 and are in general alignment withapertures 108 in the top panel (FIGURE 5). The apertures 198 in the toppanel 10 are adapted to be positioned directly above the ball receivingannulus 22 and in alignment with respective ones of the ball receivingcavities 29. The top wall of each of the housings 9G is provided with anaperture 92. A shaft 94, having an associated cover 96 mounted thereon,is pivotally mounted in the housing gt to effect an opening or closingof the aperture 92 from the interior of the housing 90. Normally, thecover 96 is maintained in a closed position over the aperture 92 by aweighted arm 98 carried by the shaft 94. It will be appreciated that thecover 96 may be manually swung to an open position by the manipulationof the shaft 9%.

When the shaft 94- is turned to open the aperture 92, a switch contact1% makes electrical contact with one terminal of the battery 1&2 whichis electrically connected to a light bulb 104 through a conductor 106.In the open position of the aperture )2, the light bulb 104 is energizedcausing illumination of a single playing piece or ball B resting on theball receiving annulus 22. The viewing of adjacent playing pieces B isobviated by employing a pair of spaced apart shield members 11%, whichdepend down wardly from the undersurface of the top panel 10, adjacenteach of the openings H28, as clearly illustrated in FIGURE 5.

In operation, the herein described apparatus may be employed to play agame of the type normally played with a conventional deck of playingcards. Accordingly, there are typically 52 playing pieces B, eachcarrying indicia representing one card of a conventional deck of playingcards. At the commencement of the game, the lever 64 is moved to causethe camming levers 74 and 76 to raise the ball receiving annulus 22 toan elevated position wherein certain of the playing pieces B are inalignment with respective ones of the plungers 60, as illustrated inFIG- URES 2, 3, and 6. In this position, the shaft 94 is turned to openthe aperture 92 in the housing 99 to expose one of the playing pieces Bas illustrated in FIGURE 1. The exposed and illuminated playing piece Bis typically referred to as the hold piece, and may be observed only bythe single player of each of the various playing positions. The holdplaying piece B is in alignment with the center plunger .60 and twoplaying pieces on either side of the hold playing pieces are inalignment with the respective ones of the other plungers 60. Therespective players sequentially force the plungers in an inwardlydirection causing the playing pieces to travel down the inclined surface52 to become visible and rest within the compartments formed by thedividing guide walls 56 and the respective end wall 58. The latterposition of the playing pieces B is illustrated in FIGURE 6. At the endof one complete game, after all of the five plungers have been forcedinwardly, the lever 64 is moved or turned to cause the camming levers 74and '76 to return to their lowermost position, allowing the ballreceiving annulus 22 to move downwardly to the position illustrated inFIGURE 7. In this position, the handle knob 51 of the disc 44 is forceddownwardly allowing the played playing pieces B to roll downwardly onthe inclined surface of the disc 44- and against the inner surface ofthe inner annular wall member 26. Simultaneously, the outer ends 84 ofthe radially extending pivotally mounted bars urge the lower ballejecting ring 30 and the upper ball ejecting ring 28 upwardly, therebyeffecting the unseating of the playing pieces B which were unplayed. Theunplayed pieces B, as well as the played pieces B, are then in effectshuttled by the rotation of the disc 44 about the axis of the spindle48. During the rotation of the disc 44, the upstanding guide fingers 46aid in moving the balls about to assume relatively new positions. Thedisc is then allowed to return to its uppermost position as indicated inFIGURE 8 and is rotated rather slowly, allowing the playing pieces B todrop into the playing piece cavities 29 of the ball receiving annulus 22and the game apparatus is ready for another playing cycle.

While the apparatus specifically illustrated and described is generallyhexagonal, it will be understood that other shapes could be likewiseemployed without departing from the spirit of the invention. Forexample, an apparatus employing the principles of the invention could befabricated in an octagonal shape, permitting eight playing positions.Manifestly, an annularly shaped construction would have the advantage ofmodifying the apparatus for a large variety of players by merelypositioning properly the sets of plungers 60.

According to the patent statutes I have explained the principles andmode of operation of my invention, and have illustrated and describedwhat I now consider to represent its best embodiment. However, I desireto have it understood that, within the scope of the appended claims, theinvention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically illustratedand described.

What I claim is:

1. In a game comprising:

a plurality of spherical playing pieces;

a base;

an upstanding wall member, said wall member and said base defining anopen top chamber;

a playing piece supporting member mounted concentrically within thechamber defined by said wall member and adapted to move vertically;

means for selectively vertically positioning said supporting memberbetween a first position and a second position;

a conical disc mounted for rotation about an axis substantially normalthereto and disposed concentrically within the chamber defined by saidwall member, the peripheral edge of said disc being spaced slightlyinwardly of said playing piece supporting member and rotatable withrespect thereto;

playing piece ejecting means connected to said playing piece supportingmember, said ejecting means including manually operable means forejecting said playing pieces when said supporting member is in thesecond position; and

a plurality of propelling means positioned in spaced relation to saidwall member, said propelling means being manually operable to forcerespective ones of said playing pieces olf said supporting member whensaid member is in the first position.

2. In a game comprising:

a plurality of spherical playing pieces;

a base;

an upstanding annular wall member, said wall mem ber and said basedefining a chamber having an open p;

an annular supporting member for supporting said playing pieces, saidsupporting member mounted coaxially with and adjacent to said wallmember and adapted to move vertically;

means for selectively vertically positioning said supporting memberbetween a first, upper position and a second, lower position;

a conically shaped disc mounted for rotation about an axis substantiallynormal thereto and disposed coaxially within and having the peripheraledge thereof spaced slightly inwardly of said supporting member androtatable with respect thereto;

playing piece ejecting means connected to said supporting member, saidejecting means including manually operable means for ejecting saidplaying pieces when said supporting member is in the second lowerposition; and

a plurality of propelling means positioned in spaced relation in saidwall member, said propelling means being manually operable to forcerespective ones of said playing pieces 01f said supporting member whensaid member is in the first upper position.

3. The invention defined in claim 2 wherein said plurality of propellingmeans includes groups of spring biased plunger elements.

4. The invention defined in claim 3 wherein said means for selectivelyvertically positioning said supporting means includes a camming meansadapted to contact the undersurface of the supporting member.

5. The invention defined in claim 3 wherein said disc includes adownwardly extending spindle for rotatably mounting said disc and forengagement with said ejecting means whereby when said disc is forceddownwardly said spindle operatively engages said ejecting means to ejectthereby said playing pieces from said supporting member.

6. The invention defined in claim 5 wherein said disc and spindle arespring biased against downward movement thereof.

References Cited FOREIGN PATENTS 216,566 5/1924 Great Britain.

ANTON O. OECHSLE, Primary Examiner. A. W. KRAMER, Assistant Examiner.

